Knowlton p



(No Model.)

K. P. DRYSDALE. GHEGKING AND UNGHEGKING DEVICE.

Patented AprQZZ, 1890.

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UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

KNOIVLTON P. DRYSDALE, OF P-EORIA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOMARTIN REHFUSS, JR, OF SAME PLACE.

CHECKING AND UNCHECKING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 426,250, dated April22, 1890.

Application filed December 31, 1889. Serial No. 335,526. (No model.)

To whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, KNOWLTON P. DRYs- DALE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Peoria, in the county of Peoria and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and useful Improvem ent in CheckreinAttachments for Harness, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object the provision of an attachment forharness of improved construction for use in securing the checkrein tothe harnesssaddle, which, while affording ample security against theaccidental detachment of the checkrein from the saddle, will offer morereadily operative means for fastening and unfastening the checkrein thanhave been afforded by other means hitherto commonly employed; and myobject is, furthermore, to provide such an attachment which maybereadily manipulated from the position of the driver.

To the above ends my invention consists in the general construction ofthe attachment and also in details of construction and combinations ofparts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows my improvements upon theharness ofahorse; Figs. 2, 3, and 4, enlarged broken perspective viewsillustrating, the various features of my improvements in detail, andFig. 5 a detail view in elevation.

The attachment proper comprises a catch A, rigidly secured to theharnesssaddle B, and a link A, provided at one end with an eye't orother means for securing it to the cheekrein, and at its opposite endwith a stop, preferably in the form of a knob The catch A projectsupward from the harnesssaddle, and may be either in the form of a loophaving its upper portion 7" wider than the lower portion r, as shown, orit may comprise two upwardly-proj ecting bars bent, preferably, todiverge toward the top in the same manner as the two sides of the loopshown. The body portion 19 of the link may be either a stiff bar, asshown, or it may be flexiblefor instance, in the form of a chain. Theknob a is capable of passing readily through the upper part 0' of thecatch,but is too large to pass through it below the upper part, so

that when inserted. through the upper part and allowed to drop itswithdrawal is prevented by the sides of the catch. The catch is bent, asshown, to incline backward toward the top to prevent the link A fromrising in the catch without drawing upon the checkrein.

In the use of the attachment to check the horse the knob of the link Ais passed through the upper part of the catch and caused to drop to thelower part of the latter, when the strain naturally exerted by the horseupon the checkrein and the weight of the knob will operate to keep thelatter down and therefore secure against withdrawal.

In order that the driver may check or uncheck the horse without leavinghis position when driving, I provide a line or cord D, fastened at oneend to the knob s, and which may be held toward its other end with thereins X in the hand of the driver. The cordD may extend along one of thereins through a guide, or pass through a series of guide-eyes q, placedat intervals along one of the reins to keep it out of the way and renderit more easy to be grasped with the reins. While it is generally moredesirable that the line D should extend along one of the reins to thehand of the driver to be within easy reach of the latter, the line maybe caused to extend along the back of the animal toward the rear end ofthe harness and fastened to the crupper or turn-back 1 as indicated bydotted lines in Fig. l. The latter way of disposing the line may bepreferred where it would bring the line within reach of the driver.

Upon the link and adjacent to the eye is a stop t, which extends fromopposite sides of the link. As the link is drawn through the catch, thestop slides up the forward side of the catch, and thus causes the bar torise coincident with the upper part 7' of the latter. Therefore touncheck the horse it is only necessary to draw upon the cord and hold ityieldingly, when the forward strain exerted by the horse upon thecheckrein will draw the knob through the upper part of the catch. Tocheck the horse again, the knob is drawn back through the catch by meansof the cord and allowed to drop, as before de- IOO scribed, the enlargedpart of the link'A' affording the eye t, and the stop 25 adjacent to theeye operating to prevent the link from i being drawn inadvertentlyentirely through 5 the catch.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a checkrein attachment for harness, the combination of anupwardly-extending catch IO A upon the saddle, a link A, an eye 15 atone end of the link, through which the checkrein extends and afiording astop, a stop 25 upon the link extending each side of the eye, and a stop8 at theopposite end of the link to en-- gage with the catch,substantially as de- 15 scribed.

KNOWLTON P; DRYSDALE. In presence of- MARTIN REHFUSS, J12, J. W.DYRENFORTH.

